Why 'Severance' would fall flat with the American workforce
What does the popularity of the critically acclaimed Apple TV+ series “Severance,” which returned in January for its second season, say about Americans’ relationships with their workplaces? As much as we might sometimes crave better work-life balance, the evidence points to a surprisingly satisfied nation.
In the show, Mark Scout (played by Adam Scott) plays a “severed” worker who has chosen to undergo a procedure to fully sever his work self from his personal self. Work Mark (known as an “innie”) does his job at the mysterious Lumon Industries from nine to five. When he leaves the office for the day, he leaves that self behind, becoming a fully separate entity (known as an “outie”) who has no knowledge of who he is or what he does at work.
This premise presents a fascinating question: What if you could fully separate your personal and work lives in a similar way? In the real world, how many of us might be willing to undergo such a drastic move if we could?
One can imagine situations where compartmentalizing life would be a welcome reprieve. Some might like work to be a full escape from a personal tragedy (like the one suffered by Mark) or the aftermath of the breakup of a long-term relationship. Others might like home to be a complete escape from a stressful job or from being under the thumb of an unnecessarily cruel boss. At least for a time, being “severed” could put the misery on pause.
There’s no way to know for sure, but we can get a sense of things by examining people’s levels of satisfaction with their work and personal lives. And polls indicate that most of us are actually pretty pleased with all of it.
This finding flies in the face of conventional wisdom. It’s true that only one in five Americans say they’re satisfied with the way things are going in the country, and that 16 percent of Americans feel lonely all or most of the time.
Not only that, but the “loneliness epidemic” may get worse, given that younger people are more likely than older people to report high levels of loneliness. This also fits with headlines about rising alienation, spurred by social media usage and political polarization, leading to more distrust.
The situation sounds bleak, and there is plenty to be concerned about. However, the headlines tend to leave out how most of us feel about our own lives.
In fact, most Americans report feeling quite satisfied, with more than 8 in 10 feeling very or somewhat satisfied with their personal lives. This has been a remarkably steady trend over the last 45 years.
In the workplace, we’re also pretty darn happy. Gallup finds that 86 percent of full- or part-time employed Americans say they’re completely or somewhat satisfied with their jobs.
As with personal satisfaction, this feeling has remained quite consistent over the years. Most of us believe our jobs are safe; nearly 90 percent don’t worry that they’ll be laid off sometime in the next year.
Vast majorities of us are satisfied with the flexibility we get in work hours (87 percent), the amount of work expected of us (86 percent), our bosses (83 percent), the recognition we get for work accomplishments (82 percent) and the money we earn (75 percent).
All in all, the numbers paint a pretty rosy picture of our lives at home and at the office. Despite what we might see on our social media timelines, most Americans don’t seem to view the societal or existential threats of the world — politics, war, climate change, etc. — as incompatible with our own happiness. Our displeasures ebb and flow, but our satisfaction with the state and direction of our lives is remarkably durable.
So, while there’s no polling data asking about whether we’d be willing to become “severed,” don’t expect Americans to clamor for it any time soon.
Jennifer Tiedemann is the executive editor of Discourse magazine at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.
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